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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.
  2. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  3. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  4. She was laid on a cow-________________ and covered by a coarse woollen blanket.
  5. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  6. He was blown up by a land ________________.
  7. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  8. I met an old friend of ________________ the other day.
  9. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  10. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  11. She's sitting on a gold ________________.
  12. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  13. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  14. The spa offers ________________ extensions.
  15. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. He felt the sting of the whip's ________________.
  18. Why are you trying to ________________ your feelings?
  19. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  20. Don't ________________ out at me just because you're upset.
  21. We have nothing to ________________ here.
  22. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  23. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  24. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. band — a rubber band
  2. straw — dry grass
  3. spring — of water
  4. hide — animal skin
  5. straw — to clutch at straws
  6. mine — an explosive
  7. band — a ring
  8. mine — belonging to me
  9. pit — in a race
  10. spring — the season
  11. mine — for digging
  12. content — happy
  13. straw — a straw man
  14. lash — an eyelash
  15. spring — a coil
  16. content — the amount
  17. lash — a whip stroke
  18. hide — to keep secret
  19. content — videos and posts
  20. lash — to lash out
  21. hide — to keep secret
  22. pit — a fruit stone
  23. pit — a hole
  24. band — a music group

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com